Hubba Hubba Smokehouse

“We’re about as far from fast food as you can get,” boasts the management of Hubba Hubba Smokehouse, an utterly delightful al fresco eatery nestled in the Carolina foothills at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. They’re referring to the fact that all the meats are slow-smoked for hours, resulting in tender juiciness surrounded by superseasoned crisp bark on pork, brisket, and ribs. However, the promise of slowness also applies to the likely wait you will experience to get hold of this excellent BBQ. You see, Hubba Hubba is no secret, and the charming Little Rainbow Row of which it is a part in the village of Flat Rock is a popular travelers’ destination.

So chances are good you will wait in line a while. It’s not the insane, multi-hour wait of the holy barbecues of the Southwest; in fact, the line moves along pretty quickly. Once you’ve placed your order and paid, it’s only a short while before your name is called and you can take the meal to one of many tables stationed on a broad, open-air patio opposite the smokehouse. The place feels like a picnic.

The menu is prototypical BBQ: meaty ribs, big slabs of brisket, tender pulled chicken all are available with such sides as mac & cheese (kinda bland), collards (very tart), tangy-sweet baked beans, pimento cheese grits, succotash, and slaw. It’s all good stuff, the ultra-marbled brisket especially succulent, the baked beans a leguminous thrill ride.

If there’s a BBQ-frowner in your party, that person can have a grilled pimento cheese sandwich, a loaded sweet potato, or a salad made with local veggies. But really, the reason to come to Hubba Hubba is to savor authentic barbecue served with all the right fixins and eaten in the great outdoors.